1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a duct for conveying hot air to a selected area on the inside surface on a skin of an aircraft in a hollow aerostructural component of the aircraft, for preventing accumulation of ice on the external surface of the skin of the aircraft in the said selected area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is increasing use of fibre/resin composite materials in the manufacture of the inlet cowls of turbo-fan aircraft engines. It is necessary to prevent accumulation of ice on the external surfaces of these inlet cowls and it has been proposed to achieve this by channelling hot air deriving from the turbo-fan engine served by the cowl, along a duct within the hollow cowl, to a hot air spray ring located within the annular leading edge of the cowl.
A major problem, especially when maximum use is made of composite materials, is the difficulty of protecting these materials from damage caused by over-heating, when excessive quantities of hot air are incident upon them following rupture of a duct carrying the hot air.
It is one object of the present invention to alleviate this problem.